The Story of Princess Shanta

The Story of Shanta's Birth

Apart from his three brothers, Lord Ram also had a sister. Not many people know about this, and it is also believed that all four sons of King Dashrath were not told about the existence of their sister Shanta. Shanta was the oldest child of King Dashrath and Queen Kaushalya. Queen Kaushalya had an older sister, named Vershini, who did not have any children of her own. So, king Dashrath promised her and her husband, king Romapad of Anga, that he would give their firstborn to them. So, during one of her visits to her younger sister Kaushalya, Vershini asked for Kaushalya’s child. Kaushalya was unwilling to give her daughter to Vershini. But King Dashrath, who had to keep his promise, agreed to give his daughter Shanta to Vershini.

This is how Shanta became the princess of Anga.

Life

She was educated in the Vedas, arts, crafts as well as in warfare, and was considered to have been very beautiful. One day, while her father, the king Romapad, was busy in conversation with Shanta, a brahmin came to ask for help in cultivation during the days of the monsoon. Romapad did not pay attention to the brahmin's plight. This irritated and enraged the brahmin, who left the kingdom. Indra, the god of rain, was unable to bear the insult to his devotee, so there was little rainfall during the monsoon season resulting in drought in the kingdom. Meanwhile, Dashrath wanted a son to continue his legacy and enrich his royal dynasty. It was advised that the troubles of both kingdoms could only be alleviated by yajnas performed by a brahmin with powers that come from the observance of perfect chastity and that the only such person was Rishyashring.

Rishyashring had been raised by Rishi Vibhandak, isolated from society without knowledge of women. He had to be brought to the city and be persuaded to carry out the necessary yagya ceremonies. Despite their fear of the power and anger of Rishi Vibhandak, both kings sent young women to introduce the boy to the normal society, then Shanta fulfilled this task and Rishyashring married Shanta, he then agreed to perform yagya for Anga, during the recitation of it, it rained heavily, the public rejoiced and there were festivals in Anga.

Rishyashring also performed a Putra Kameshthi yagya for Dashrath to beget progeny, and as a consequence of the said Yagya was born: Ram, Bharat, and the twins Lakshman and Shatrughan. There is a temple at Kigga, a small town near Sringeri, Karnataka, where idols of Rishi Rishyashring and Goddess Shanta are hosted. Also, Shanta is said to have nursed Dashrath on his death bed.

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